An Alternate Path
by FunahoMisaki
Summary: One action. Just one act of kindness near the start of the school year by the PE teacher Rita Desjardin is all it takes to change the life of Carrie White, and the lives of everyone in Chamberlain Maine. See what many knew, but never bothered to react too, was that Carrie was locked out of her house for the whole weekend at least once a month by her mother. This time Rita finds out
1. Chapter 1

**Carrie AU**

**By: FunahoMisaki**

**(A/N: I own nothing and what if one night a few weeks after the start of the school year gym teacher Rita Desjardin is on her way home from the store when she stumbles across Carrie White bleeding and crying in the rain cause she was locked out of her house…again? AU slight OOCish.)**

"The one time I decide to walk to the store and back it rains! Talk about rotten luck!" Rita Desjardin said scowling up at the sky from under her sweater which she had hastily removed and used as a makeshift umbrella, leaving her to shiver in a white tube top and pair of grey sweat pants. The gym teacher lived just down the road from the only grocery store in town so she decided to run there and buy some last minute grocers before running back home, although the weather man had said it was going to be a sunny day rather than rainy.

Rita was running home as fast as she could without slipping on the wet cement when she ran past a park and stopped. Sitting on one of the nearby benches was a young girl, one of her students actually, and from the sound of it the girl was sobbing. Rita recognized the girl instantly, how could she not? The other teachers had been warning her about the girl ever since she accepted the job as the new gym teacher at Ewen High. It was Carrie White, the supposed bible-crazy klutz Senior.

Personally Rita didn't believe most of what the other teachers told her about the young girl and how she was as crazy as her mother, sure the girl was a little shy and uncertain about common things but she was nowhere near as…unhinged as Margaret White had been the one time that Rita had actually met the woman. That woman had been ranting and waving about how Mr. Collins at the dry cleaners was going to hell for some small thing or another. And sure the girl was a little clumsy but that seemed to be more nervousness than anything else and she had never heard the timid girl say a single unkind thing to the other students even when they tormented her relentlessly.

Rita didn't even notice that as she had been thinking all this her feet directed her body towards the sobbing girl who was wearing one of her usual all covering outfits that her mother had made her.

"Carrie?" Rita asked when she finally noticed that she was literally right behind the girl who had yet to notice her. Carrie let out a small surprised squeak like shriek sound as she jumped nearly a foot off the ground, falling off of the bench as she did so. Carrie laid on the ground staring at Rita wide eyed and panting slightly from fear as she clutched her left arm tightly in her right one.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you so badly." Rita apologized as she quickly walked around the bench and crouched down next to Carrie to see if the girl had hurt herself by accident. Carrie watched her warily, slowly calming down from her near death fright, as the rain fell around them.

"M-Ms. Desjardin?" Carrie asked cautiously, recognizing the gym teacher that had treated her kinder than the other teachers did, but never spoke to her before.

"Yes Carrie?" Rita asked as she tried to get a look at the girls left arm but Carrie clutched it tighter to her chest protectively, cradling it slightly with her right arm.

"W-Why are you out here in the rain?" Carrie asked confused as she looked at the kind PE teacher who gave her a wry smile and lift up the shopping bag on her arm.

"Last minute grocery shopping. It was predicted to be a sunny day so I thought I'd run to the store since it's not too far from my house. It's my rotten luck to be walking back to the house when it started to rain. Now why are _you_ out here in the rain?" Rita asked causing Carrie to shrug slightly.

"Mama locked me out the house for tonight and the rest of the weekend again cause I didn't want to go to the praying closet." Carrie said sounding unconcerned while Rita was startled.

"Your mother did WHAT?!" Rita asked shouting the last bit in anger, how could anyone lock their child out of the house for the weekend cause she didn't want to go to the 'praying closet'? That woman must be even more unhinged than Rita thought. Rita only slightly calmed down when she noticed Carrie flinched and whimpered slightly at the yell.

"And she didn't come get you and let you back in the house when it started raining?" Rita asked causing Carrie to shake her head in the negative while another thing caught Rita's attention about Carrie's previous sentence as the girl nervously sat up.

"And what did you mean she locked you out _again?_ Does she do it often?" Rita asked, looking a bit worried about the answer.

"Momma locks me out of the house at least once a month for one reason or another." Carrie said slightly confused, most of the people in Chamberlain knew that her momma locked her outta the house…so how come Miss. Desjardin didn't? Oh…wait…she had just moved here at the start of the school year…maybe that was why? Rita swelled like an angry bullfrog at this before she counted to ten…five times…in three different languages before she un-swelled.

"Alright. Get up Carrie and let's go before you get sick." Rita said extending her free hand to help the girl off of where she was still sitting on the wet grass of the park.

"Go where Miss Desjardin?" Carrie asked nervously taking the teachers extended hand and letting herself be pulled up off of the ground by the woman who was stronger than she looked.

"To my house of course. I'm not letting you stay out here by yourself in this weather. It isn't right." Rita said with a shake of her head.

And just like that Chamberlain was forever changed, thanks to one womans kind action to the 'freak' of the town.


	2. Chapter 2

**Carrie AU**

**By: FunahoMisaki**

**(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter.)**

After about two minutes of Rita using her now almost completely soaked sweater to shield the younger girl from the rain they had made it to her house. Carrie had quietly and obediently followed the gym teacher to her house but stopped on the door mat when she looked inside and noticed the spotless floor as the older woman walked in and made it to the kitchen without making a mess. She hesitated slightly, she didn't want to ruin the kind woman's clean house.

"What's wrong Carrie? I promise I won't bite." Rita asked as she stepped out of the kitchen area and noticed the teen still on the threshold, smiling slightly at the girl reassuringly.

"I-I don't want to wreck your floor and house." Carrie said after a seconds pause while Rita blinked at this for a minute before she laughed lightly.

"Don't worry about the floor and house Carrie. I can easily clean up any mess you make, and I'm not the cleanest person in the world either. Your health is way more important than the floor. Now come in here before you catch the flu, or worse." Rita said smiling at the girl who had tensed at her laughter, before blinking and relaxing slightly at her encouragement. Nervously Carrie stepped over the threshold and into the house, shivering slightly since her cloths were soaked and she was still cradling her left arm. Rita didn't rush the girl who was nervous enough as it was, she just smiled and waited patiently until the girl was a few feet into the house before walking over and closing the door.

"Don't be scared or nervous about making a mess Carrie. I've tracked everything from water and mud to oil and gas in here before, it all comes up and if not the floor is replaceable. You, however, are one of a kind and far _far_ more important." Rita said placing a soothing hand on the girls shoulder and causing her to look shocked and duck her head slightly, blushing at being told that she was important. No one had ever told her that before!

"Now come on. I have some cloths that might fit you upstairs, but first we need to get you into a nice hot bath. After you get done I should have some soup whipped up, then maybe you can show me why you're cradling your arm like that." Rita said taking the girls hand and leading her up the stairs and down the hall. Rita didn't know why but she felt a need to protect and help this shy and polite young woman who no one else seemed to care about any way she could.

"Don't feel pressured into telling or showing me anything your uncomfortable with though. If you don't want me to know that's fine, you don't know me well and I don't know you well so it's only natural that you wouldn't tell me your life story. Just tell me that you don't want to talk or think about it and I'll drop the matter." Rita said smiling over her shoulder at the young woman who gave her a shy smile back.

"Here. This is the bathroom. Hang on a second and I'll grab you a towel and some of my old cloths that might fit you. You're a bit taller than I am though so they won't be a perfect fit, but they're dry and clean which is more than I can say for your cloths right now." Rita said stopping in front of one of the doors and opening it for Carrie before walking off to presumably get a towel and some old cloths. Carrie wasn't alone for more than two minutes, just long enough for her to find the plug and put it in the bathtub and start the water, before the gym teacher was back.

"Here ya go. Take as long as you like, there's no telling how cold you must be from the rain and all, just throw your current cloths out in the hallway and I'll make sure they get washed and dried soon. Feel free to use any of the shampoo and soap you want, just come downstairs when you're done okay?" Rita asked smiling at the younger girl as she made sure the water temperature was on hot, but not too hot. She didn't want the younger girl to accidentally scald or burn herself after all.

"Um…Miss Desjardin?" Carrie asked shyly as the teacher was about to leave the room.

"Yes Carrie?" Rita asked turning to look at the younger girl.

"N-Not that I'm ungrateful or complaining but…why are you being so nice to me? I'm nothing special." Carrie said nervously, afraid of offending the one person who was actually nice to her although Rita only smiled at her instead of getting angry at the question. Carrie was confused at the kind teachers actions, she was being much nicer to her than anyone else had ever been, even Carrie's own Momma wasn't this nice to her!

"But you are special Carrie. Much more special than you realize. I'm being nice to you because no one else will…because I it's the right thing to do…because you're important, especially to me. I'm being nice because I _care about you_. There are a lot of other reasons too…but those are the main ones. Now enjoy your bath and I'll see you downstairs after a while." Rita said smiling fondly at the younger girl who blushed darkly at her words and nodded slightly, not meeting the older womans eyes for the world. Rita only chuckled slightly at the shy action as she left the room, leaving Carrie staring after her in wonder, confusion, and curiosity. Wondering why she of all people meant so much to the older woman although she was grateful that someone seemed to care about her at least.

It wouldn't be until later that Rita fully understood just how much her words had meant to Carrie in that moment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Carrie AU**

**By: FunahoMisaki**

**(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter.)**

"Yeah. I know mama that was my reaction too. I can't believe someone could do such a thing to a child, their own no less! God when I saw her sitting there alone in the rain sobbing and heard why she was there, I wanted to go to her house and beat her mothers face in with that bloodstained bible she likes so much!" That was the first thing Carrie heard after she had gotten out of the bath thirty minutes later and silently made her way down the stairs to find the kind teacher. Carrie looked around curiously for any sign of someone besides the two of them in the house, before she caught sight of Desjardin through the kitchen doorway and noticed that she was on the phone as she cooked. Carrie was about to go in there and make her presence known but she hesitated slightly, she didn't want to interrupt the womans conversation.

This was the first time anyone had let Carrie stay at their house after her mother had kicked her out for the weekend, most people just ignored it whenever they found Carrie asleep or crying in the park or woods. No one had ever cared enough to let her stay with them, or treated her so nicely! Miss Desjardin had worried more over Carrie than she did the cleanliness of her home, she had let Carrie take a long hot bath in her tub using her shampoo and soap, and had even given Carrie something warm and clean to wear! Although Carrie had never worn a baggy blue t-shirt with the bright red character on it or the comfortable pair of shorts that had a snowflake design on them that Miss Desjardin had kindly let her wear.

"The only reason I didn't go do what you're threatening to do to her is because I wanted to get Carrie out of the rain and cold before she caught the flu or Pneumonia. That poor girl just can't seem to catch a break!" Carrie heard Desjardin say into the phone after a moment of silence while the person on the other end talked.

"It's sickening how everyone in town except for me seems to not give a rat shit about her simply because of who her mother is and how said mother acts! Hell the other teachers tried to warn me that Carrie acts just like her mother and is a troublemaker of the highest degree. I've seen Mrs. White once at the dry cleaners and Carrie is nothing like her! That woman was miss-quoting bible scripture at Mr. Collins, who is one of the other teachers at the High School, and screaming and raving about how he's going to hell simply because of something small what was it again? …Now I remember she was screaming about how he was going to hell because he had told her to shut up and actually do her job instead of pestering everyone. I haven't heard Carrie utter a single un-kind word to anyone, even the people who bully and torment her near daily!" Desjardin said into the phone and Carrie heard something being cut up at a fast pace. Desjardin was silent for a minute as the person on the phone spoke to her while she plopped something into a pot that Carrie could barely see through the doorway.

"I got so pissed off at those kids the other day because of something they did to her mama. She always wears a small necklace that has Jesus on it, and a few days ago it went missing. Apparently she had set it down on the bench in the girls locker room while taking a shower after gym class and one of the other girls took it. I didn't know that until after school when I was on my way to the Teacher Work Room and saw her looking around a hallway frantically with tears in her eyes. That necklace belonged to her father, and he had died months before she was born so she never knew him and lord only knows what her mother would tell her about him. I sent her home and looked for that necklace all over the place for two days before I found it in the park beside the school." Here Desjardin paused as she cut something else up, and Carrie caught sight of her as the girl hesitantly entered the kitchen. She had changed into some dry cloths as well and had her hair pulled back like in gym class, she also had a phone in between her ear and her shoulder while she chopped up what looked like chicken.

"Trust me I was ready to pound some of those other girls faces in myself mama and that was just the first incident! The next day I gave her back her necklace and I can't even begin to count the number of thank you's she said when she saw it and she even gave me a hug! That girl never gets close to anyone, she doesn't even bump into the other kids on accident in the hallway between class periods, and yet she hugged me. The look on the other kids faces…I had to resist the urge to hit them all with detention boot camp style…as well as my clipboard. You don't know how hard it was for me to keep from laughing though when Carrie grabbed one of the dodge balls during the game that day and managed to whack the ringleader of her tormentors right in the face! ...Yeah that girl was not happy and poor Carrie looked so scared…hell mama she looked terrified! I asked her to stay behind while the other girls went to get their showers so that I could talk to her about something, that way the other girls couldn't corner her in the locker room." Desjardin said grinning slightly at the part about Carrie hitting Chris in the face with a dodge ball, although she was frowning most of the rest of the time she spoke. She looked rather angry as she chopped up some carrots now, tossing them and the chicken into the boiling pot that had some noodles in it. Carrie giggled at the memory of Chris's face when she had been hit full in the face with the dodge ball, causing Desjardin to jump. Rita swore when she chopped up a piece of carrot a little too hard and ended up breaking her cutting board clean in half as she spun around and put a hand over her heart at the sight of Carrie standing there.

"I'm fine mama. I didn't hear Carrie come into the kitchen while I was talking to you and she startled me is all. Nah I didn't cut anything but the carrot and the board…yeah I'll be needing to buy a new cutting board tomorrow. Alright…alright. I'll let you go and talk to you tomorrow. Love ya mama, and tell papa I love her too. Night." Rita said as she tried to steady her racing heart, hanging up the phone and setting it down before she gave Carrie an amused but stern look.

"Please don't sneak up on me like that Carrie! If I forgot you were here in the house with me I could have really hurt you…although I guess you found it a bit funny to scare me half to death huh? Payback for when I startled you earlier?" Rita asked grinning slightly at a nervous Carrie who released a breath of relief that the older woman wasn't mad.

"Sorry Miss Desjardin." Carrie apologized sheepishly anyways.

"Rita." Rita said absently as she patted the top of Carrie's head before turning back to the soup and stirring it idly.

"Huh?" Carrie asked tilting her head slightly in confusion although she had blushed a little at the pat on the head she had been given. Rita made a split second decision as she looked over her shoulder at the confused looking teen behind her.

"When we're not in class call me Rita."


	4. Chapter 4

**Carrie AU**

**By: FunahoMisaki**

**(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter.)**

"Do you want any help cooking Miss Desj-er Rita?" Carrie asked, changing from the teachers last name to her first at a sharp look from said teacher who was using the biggest half of her cut up cutting board to chop up the rest of the carrots.

"No thank you Carrie. I'm almost done. All that's left is to let it cook for a little while." Rita said smiling warmly at Carrie who nodded slightly and nervously sat down on one of the stools in the kitchen.

"Do you want me to take a look at your arm while we wait? You were cradling it earlier." Rita asked as she put the knives and all into the sink and put a lid on the pot.

"Um…"Carrie thought about it nervously for a minute. She trusted Miss Desja-er Rita but she didn't want to bother the woman any more than she already was.

"If you're injured I can patch you up. I don't like seeing my students hurt Carrie." Rita said looking at the girl worriedly and causing Carrie to smile slightly at her and hold her arm out so that Rita could see the wound. Rita nearly swallowed her tongue at the sight of the injury. There was a long nasty looking stab wound in Carrie's upper forearm, and several cuts on the rest of the arm.

"What happened?" Rita asked seriously as she pulled down the first aid box from one of the cabinets nearby.

"I-I was telling mama about my day at school and I-I must have done something bad cause she wanted me to go to the closet for the rest of the night. I didn't want to go, I was just in there last night and didn't want to stay the night in there again, so she grabbed one of the knives and tried to chase me into the closet. Sh-She hit me with the blade of the knife and scratched my arm up with it. Th-Then she got my leg and whacked me with the blade on my back when I was running out of the house that's when she yelled for me not to come home but I'll have to go home on Monday after school." Carrie said swallowing slightly when she talked about her mama hitting her and stabbing her with the knife, just because it happened about once a month…doesn't mean it still didn't hurt her. Rita's face went pale at first then she was bright red with rage.

"That's it where's my sword and gun? I have an evil old witch to talk to. Using words like crucifixion that way she'll understand it." Rita said setting the first aid box down on the counter beside her as she seemed to storm into the living room to hunt for something. Carrie hopped off of the stool and began to trail after Rita worriedly, but she cried out in pain when she was suddenly sent crumbling to the floor. In an instant Rita was back in the kitchen and scoping Carrie into her arms as blood began to pour from Carrie's leg and onto the floor.

"I'm so sorry sweetie. I completely forgot you said she got you in the leg with the knife. It must have reopened when you got off of the stool. Let's get that taken care of." Rita said fussing over Carrie protectively and maternally as she actually carried the younger girl into the living room and laid her on the couch, propping her leg up gently in order to get a good look at the cut.

"I'll kill your mother later. For now let's get you taken care of." Rita said darting back to the kitchen to grab the first aid box before coming right back and opening it.

"It looks like the bath cleaned out any dirt that might have gotten into it but we should disinfect it just in case." Rita said prodding the wound gently as she opened up a bottle and poured some on a rag that she must have grabbed while getting the first aid box.

"This will probably sting a bit sweetie but I don't want you to get an infection." Rita warned as she gently pressed the rag to the cut, causing Carrie to hiss slightly in pain. Much to Rita's surprise and slight suspicion the lights in the room flickered briefly before stopping when she removed the disinfectant drizzled rag from the wound.

"There now let's wrap that up, then I'll take care of your other wounds." Rita said taking out the roll of medical bandages in the first aid box and beginning to wound it around Carrie's leg, pinning it there with a small safety pin before ripping the bandages and putting it back, moving up to look at Carrie's arms now.

"Oh dear. I'll have to take you to the hospital sweetie. She managed to cut some of your tendons!" Rita said frowning as she looked at Carrie's hand, which was useless since some of the tendons in her arm had been severed.

"Come on. Let's get you to my car." Rita said helping Carrie up off of the couch, supporting the girl so that she didn't put too much weight on her bad leg. Rita opened the door to her garage and helped Carrie into the back seat of her silver Opal.

"Why do you have two cars Miss Des-er sorry, Rita? And are cut tendons really that bad?" Carrie asked noticing the second car in the garage and looking at the teacher who was getting into the drivers seat as she spoke.

"This one is one I bought with my own money, which is why I tend to use it more than I do the Maserati. My parents bought that for me but I prefer to buy my own things so I hardly use it, but I always make sure that both cars are in good condition, and yes Carrie. Cut tendons are that bad. You won't be able to use your hand at all until the tendons begin to regrow, and if they regrow wrong then you might never be able to use that hand again." Rita said strapping her seatbelt in, quickly checking to make sure Carrie was strapped in too.

"Now hold on, cause the roads are pretty wet." Rita said causing Carrie to blink at her for a moment…before she let out a startled yelp at how fast Rita took off into the streets towards the hospital.

Who knew the gym teacher had a lead foot when driving? Not Carrie that was for sure!


	5. Chapter 5

**Carrie AU**

**By: FunahoMisaki**

**(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter.)**

"No offense Miss De-Rita but you are an insane driver!" Carrie said breathing heavily when the gym teacher finally pulled into the hospital parking lot, her tires screeching loudly as she did so.

"No offense taken. My sister always says that I'm a maniac when I drive anyways. Now let's get you looked at." Rita said grinning as she turned off the car, already out of door and seatbelt and outside Carrie's door before the teen could blink. In the next moment Carrie was hoisted out of the car and being carried towards the hospital door by the woman who was much stronger than she looked and she already looked strong!

"I can walk Miss De-Rita." Carrie said blushing darkly as she was literally carried into the hospital by the kind woman.

"Not with that cut in your leg you aren't. I don't want to risk you making that cut worse than it already is, it's dangerously close to some of your arteries and veins, not to mention the tendons in your leg." Rita said as everyone stared when she entered the hospital doors with Carrie in her arms.

"Nurse is there a doctor or someone available to look over Carrie here? She has many knife wounds on her arm, one of which severed her tendons, and another knife wound close to several tendons and arteries in her leg." Rita asked walking up to the nearest nurse, who was currently staring at her and Carrie in confusion and curiosity.

"O-Of course. I'll send for Doctor Snell immediately. Cause of injuries?" The nurse asked snapping out of her stupor as she pressed a button on a keyboard in front of her.

"Carrie…the nurse needs to hear it from you not from me." Rita said looking down at the teen in her arms who looked confused but agreed easily enough.

"Momma stabbed and slashed me with the kitchen knife while trying to chase me into the praying closet." Carrie said looking confused when the nurse's head, and the head of everyone else who heard her besides Rita, snapped up too her in shock and growing horror.

"…Are you her mother ma'am?" The nurse asked glaring darkly at Rita who shook her head in the negative.

"No I'm one of her teachers. I invited her to stay at my house for the weekend earlier. When she allowed me to see her injuries I brought her here as soon as I noticed how bad that one of the cuts had severed her tendons and came close to severing some more tendons. Hence why I'm not letting her walk." Rita said as she adjusted her grip on Carrie slightly, holding the girl closer protectively.

"Why did you invite her to stay at your home? Are you a relative of hers?" The nurse asked looking at Rita in confusion.

"No, as far as I know I'm not related to her in anyway…Carrie…tell her why I invited you to stay with me." Rita said sighing as she looked down at the girl in her arms.

"She invited me to stay with her because she says it was the right thing to do after she found out momma kicked me out of the house again." Carrie said blinking in confusion at the look of shock on the nurses face as a tall muscular man came up to them pushing a stretcher.

"…D-Does your mother kick you out of your house often? O-Or attack you with knives?" The nurse asked swallowing thickly as she looked at Carrie who was gently placed on the stretcher.

"Not too often. Momma only kicks me out or hits me with a knife once or twice a month." Carrie said innocently in confusion, causing the doctor, nurse, and everyone but Rita who heard her to develop looks of horror, Rita just looked pissed off.

"L-Let's get you to an x-ray before I set anything in stone. Miss Desjardin as you're not family please wait out here." Dr. Snell said exchanging significant looks with the nurse who nodded ever so slightly.

"Don't worry Carrie I'll be right here waiting for you when you're done, and when you're released I'll make sure there's some of that soup I made ready at home. You're staying with me no matter what anyone else says." Rita said smiling reassuringly at Carrie who was vaguely worried at the prospect of being on her own with the doctor.

"Promise?" Carrie asked causing Rita to smile wider as she leaned down and kissed Carrie's forehead, causing the girl to invent five new shades of red at the motherly gesture of affection.

"I swear on my life." Rita said causing Carrie to smile slightly up at her before she was wheeled off. Rita smiled until Carrie left her sight…then she sighed and turned to the nurse.

"Please tell me you keep liquor nearby? I think I'm going to need some before the end of the night." Rita said causing the nurse to snort slightly in amusement, oh she knew that feeling well.

"I hear you there ma'am but I'm afraid we're not permitted to have liquor on the premises. If you excuse me I believe I need to fill out the child abuse, neglect, and endangerment forms…I'll be sure to let the social worker know that there is already someone volunteering to be young Miss Carrie's guardian." The nurse said with a slight chuckle at the beginning before she sighed as she pulled out three separate forms and began to work on them.

"Alright and thanks. Now if you'll excuse me I need to make sure my soup isn't burning, hunt down that katana my sister gave me as a gag gift for my last birthday…and put it to good use on a certain old hag." Rita said nodding in thanks at first before she glared darkly, growling slightly, as she started towards the door.

"The X-ray will only take about an hour!" The nurse called after Rita who waved a hand lazily. The carnivorous grin on her face and her next words made those who saw it shiver slightly in terror.

"That's plenty of time don't worry."


	6. Chapter 6

**Carrie AU**

**By: FunahoMisaki**

**(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter.)**

"Who's there?!" Margaret White demanded holding a kitchen knife ready when she entered her home's kitchen while investigating some noises that should not be heard in the mostly empty house.

"I'm sorry if I startled you Mrs. White. I came here to speak with you about Carrie and the door was open so I thought I'd let myself in." A womans voice said as the light in the kitchen turned on to show Rita sitting at the kitchen table calm as you please, taking a swing from a bottle of iced tea she had brought from her fridge at home.

"Ms. Desjardin. Carrie isn't home at the moment." Margaret said nodding shortly to the younger woman, her eyes narrowing as she set the knife down on the counter top beside her.

"Oh I know she isn't. That's why I'm here right now actually." Rita said her voice and face just as calm and friendly as she could manage at the moment.

"Very well. Is it about her grades in your class?" Margaret asked staring at the woman in front of her who's friendly smile didn't waver an inch.

"Not at all, she's one of the few students in my class that I don't have to force to do the assignment on any given day of the week actually." Rita said causing Margaret to lift an eyebrow at this.

"Then what is this about?" Margaret prompted when Rita stopped talking in order to drink some more of her tea.

"Tell me Mrs. White. Do you know where your daughter is at this exact moment?" Rita asked setting her bottle down and leaning forward slightly as she stared at Margaret who raised an eyebrow before she scowled.

"Probably staying the night at some _boy_'s house like a little harlot! I knew I should have confined her to the Clo-"

"That is quite enough and quite wrong. If you dare finish that sentence Mrs. White then I'm afraid that the good policemen coming towards your house right now won't have much of you to arrest." Rita cut off her face still friendly but her voice was dangerous now.

"What do yo-"

"You see Mrs. White I'm here because I found your daughter sobbing earlier. She was in the down pouring rain, sobbing on a park bench because her mother, you, kicked her out of the house for the weekend again." Rita cut off Margaret's question, the friendly smile still on her face but now…it seemed sharper, more dangerous somehow.

"Now imagine my surprise at finding out that a god fearing woman like you tried to force her daughter into staying in a closet all night, for the second night in a row at the least I believe, before attacking said daughter and kicking her out of the house for the whole weekend when Carrie didn't want to go into the closet." Rita continued easily while Margaret began to see where this was going and her hand inched back towards the knife handle.

"After that I insisted that she stay with me, rather than her risk catching her death out there in that storm or letting anything bad happen to her out there, I took her back to my house and let her take a nice hot bath to help warm her up while I started on some soup to help keep her from getting sick. Since she didn't have any clean or dry cloths of her own to wear I gave her some of my cloths that could fit her, and while the soup was cooking I finally managed to talk her into letting me see why she was cradling her arm to her chest and limping slightly." Rita continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Margaret had discreetly grabbed the knife and was hiding it behind her back as she walked forward to stand in front of Rita.

"Now imagine my shock and horror when I see the many knife wounds on her arm, one of which could permanently damage her since it sliced through her tendons, and the one wound on her leg which nearly sliced through several arteries and tendons in it. The first thing I did was patch her leg up so that it didn't bleed all over the place, and then when I began on her arm and noticed the sliced tendons I immediately rushed her to the hospital. That's where your daughter is right now, getting an X-Ray done to see what would be the best way to heal her so that there is no permanent damage." Rita said dropping her smile as she glared darkly at Margaret who stared at her shocked.

"She also told the nurse, at my prompting I'll admit, who gave her the wounds…I believe that you are going to be arrested for Child Abuse, Neglect, and Endangerment at the least. I've also made it plenty clear that I'll happily take in poor Carrie and perhaps make her feel like she has a place she could actually call home." Rita said while Margaret gave out a shocked but still angry cry as she tried to stab Rita with the knife.

"Tut tut tut. Such unseemly manners. You shouldn't play with something so dangerous you know." Rita said tutting as if Margaret was an errant toddler, easily grabbing the womans wrist and twisting it at an unnatural angle. Margaret cried out in pain as she felt her wrist break as the knife clattered to the tile floor.

"Listen and listen well you heartless old hag." Rita began her voice suddenly much darker as she unsheathed a katana from behind her back, holding the blade of it right against Margaret's neck.

"I despise people who would attack and harm a child, especially their own child, for some stupid reason or another and your reason for hurting Carrie is the stupidest I've ever heard. If you ever, and I mean ever, try to come near Carrie or hurt her in any way shape or form again I will cuff you down to a nail board and begin cutting one square centimeter after another out of your skin, until you don't have any skin left then I'll begin doing the same to your muscle fibers and tissues before taking apart your organs, and I'll do all of this with a smile on my face and grinning like a little girl in a candy store. Understand?" Rita asked causing a deathly pale Margaret to nod shakily.

"Good! Glad we've reached an agreement! Now if you'll excuse me I promised Carrie I would be in the waiting room for her when her X-Ray was done. Wanna know the best part of this?" Rita asked grinning as she removed her sword from Margaret's neck as the woman shakily shook her head in the negative. Rita grinned wider as she leaned down towards Margaret and whispered the last few sentences in her ear before she vanished with no sign she was ever there as four police officers burst into the house.

"Too bad I'll tell you anyways. The best part of this is that you have no proof I was even here and who would believe you in a case of your word versus mine? No one that's who. Good bye and good riddance to bad trash."


End file.
